Sen. Portman Wants Way Other Than Emergency Declaration To Fund Border Wall

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has yet to decide whether he will vote in favor of a bill rejecting President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to fund the border wall.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Portman said he needs more information on where funding for the wall would come from.

“My position is I’m trying to come up with an alternative way to deal with this, either having the resolution not come before us in its current form, which is possible because we can amend it and we've been working on that as early as this morning, and we’ll see what we can come up with,” Portman said.

While Portman has yet to decide on his vote, he did say he doesn’t think there is a crisis at the border.

Meanwhile Senate Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Monday that the measure rejecting the national emergency declaration will likely pass with the support of a handful of Republicans.

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The Democratic-led House approved by a 245-182 vote a resolution on Tuesday that would terminate President Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border — a declaration he made to allow him to access funds to build a wall without congressional consent.

Only 13 Republicans joined Democrats to oppose the president, signaling that Congress will not ultimately have the veto-proof margin required to override Trump.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says he'll vote in favor of a resolution to terminate President Trump's national emergency declaration with regards to the U.S.-Mexico border. Paul's support means the resolution will likely pass the Senate with bipartisan support and could force the president to issue his first veto.

Paul's announcement, coming from an-otherwise close ally of the president, lays bare the discomfort many Republicans have had with the emergency declaration.